Five Bedford County elementary school employees were sent to the hospital Friday after a school nurse mistakenly injected them with insulin instead of flu vaccine, said Ryan Edwards, spokesman for the school division.
The flu vaccine, in packaging nearly identical to the insulin, had been stored in the same refrigerator, Edwards said, leading to the mix-up at New London Academy.
The employees, a mix of teachers and other staff, were taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. All were treated and released, Edwards said. A sixth employee also received an insulin shot but did not require hospital treatment.
“The nurse immediately called 911,” he said, “(and) fed all of the employees generous amounts of sugar to try to neutralize the insulin.”
The nurse administered the shots between 8 and 9 a.m., and within an hour, the employees were feeling lethargy, nausea and dizziness, Edwards said.
Four of the five employees were taken to the hospital by family or friends, while one needed to be transported by ambulance.
Edwards praised Andy Greenough, the school’s principal, for keeping the school running without a hitch.
Substitutes seamlessly stepped in to cover for the affected teachers, and the incident wasn’t announced to students.
“This was not a cause for panic, nowhere near it,” he said.
“I think you would really have to take a whole lot more than what was administered to these employees for it to be fatal.”
He said, fortunately, none of the employees had a pre-existing medical condition that would have worsened the effects of the injection.
The names of the employees affected were not available. Edwards did not release the name of the nurse, citing personnel reasons.
“This school nurse feels extremely bad about it,” Edwards said. “She was devastated by it.”
Edwards said no disciplinary measures have been taken, but could be forthcoming.
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